Embodiments of the present invention relate generally to enclosures and mounting systems for meters and meter-related devices and, more particularly, to an enclosure and mounting system for mounting an automatic meter reading (AMR) system utilized with a utility meter in a utility meter pit environment, with the enclosure and mounting system enabling ideal RF signal transmission and battery management for the ARM system.
Utility meters, such as water meters, are often located in below-ground pits. This kind of meter-pit installation is commonly used in geographic regions that are not typically subjected to freezing conditions and in which many homes do not have full-slab foundations. In such homes, there is no basement or access space for mounting a water meter indoors.
Automatic Meter Reading (AMR) systems are generally utilized with such utility meters in a utility meter pit environment, with such ARM systems being adapted to allow the communication of meter consumption data without a utility company operator physically visiting the meter to acquire consumption data. The meter located at the bottom of a pit is communicatively coupled to the ARM system, with the ARM system converting consumption data collected by the meter to a signal. The ARM system is communicatively coupled to a utility endpoint to independently communicate the signal in the form of a radio frequency (RF) transmission to a device in the utility endpoint that collects and records consumption data.
It is recognized that meter pit environments may vary significantly and that mounting of an AMR device in meter pits presents a variety of challenges. One challenge of mounting an AMR device is with respect to the positioning of a companion RF transceiver or antenna of the AMR device within the pit for transmission of the consumption data. That is, it is recognized that, for pit mounted utility meters, it is ideal to mount the antenna of the AMR device as high as possible to improve its transmission performance. While the RF transceiver or antenna is usually mounted to the pit lid with an adaptor in an attempt to elevate the antenna, the adaptor cannot be elevated above the lid due to safety and other requirements such as traffic, snow removal, lawn mowing, etc. Thus, existing adaptors typically put the antenna flush with the lid.
Another challenge of mounting an AMR device is with respect to powering the AMR device. RF based AMR systems for water meters are typically powered by batteries, with their battery power consumption being dependent on the installed network and application. Thus, based on the installed network and application, the network/application combination can require different size batteries and/or require regular replacement of the batteries to address battery failure and/or extending product life, in order to reduce maintenance and total system operating cost. The requirement for different size batteries is not easily accommodated by existing AMR system enclosures, as existing enclosures are designed to accommodate only one size of battery therein, such that different enclosures are required for different batteries. With regard to the replacement of the batteries in the AMR system, it is desirable for such replacement of the batteries in the field to be as simple as possible. However, existing enclosures make the battery replacement process complicated and leave battery wires/connectors poorly protected.
Therefore, it would be desirable to provide an enclosure and pit mounting adaptor for an AMR system that provides ideal RF signal transmission and battery management. The pit mounting adaptor would ideally increase the antenna height, with the enclosure supporting different battery sizes and providing battery wire/connector management as an integral part of the enclosure.